A Promise To Lie 2: Dark Mirror
by zTiamaTz
Summary: Co-authored with Starway Man and Nodakskip. After losing Vamp Xander to Faith, Vamp Cordelia encounters the Slayer as well. But then the former Vision Girl ends up...somewhere else.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: A Promise To Lie 2: Dark Mirror**

**Authors: Starway Man, Nodakskip and zTiamaTz**

**Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel the Series, along with all the characters from the respective shows are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sand Dollar, Kuzui, Fox, WB and UPN (as they then were). ** **The song "_Bad Moon Rising_"** **belongs to Creedence Clearwater Revival, the song "_The Greatest Love Of All_" belongs to to Whitney Houston, and the song "_Oh Mandy_"** **belongs to Barry Manillow. We own nothing except the plot for this story, and will be making no profit from this work.**

**Warnings: Some bad language, sexual references, violence and character death are present in this fanfic.**

**Rating: R**

**Continuity: Initially takes place eight months after the first story: "A Promise To Lie"**

**A/N: It would certainly help if you read the prequel story, otherwise you might get lost reading this one straight-up.**

**Summary: After losing Vamp Xander to Faith, Vamp Cordelia encounters the Slayer as well. But then the former Vision Girl ends up...somewhere else.**

**00000**

**= = A Higher Plane = =**

**_Here we go again_**, the bright lady thought to herself after focusing on one particular reality that had recently attracted her interest. Yet another universe where the Slayer line and legacy are going to end up in danger from the First Evil, if things play out as she expect they would. Yeesh - there are so many well-meaning yet irresponsibly idiotic versions of Willow Rosenberg throughout the multiverse, it was unbelievable!

**_No, wait, hang on_**... she then cogitated, perceiving an unusual wrinkle in that universe's history. That had never happened before, in all of the different realities the woman had examined so far.

Not to mention what was happening with Xander Harris right now...

**00000**

**Just outside the Hyperion Hotel**

**Los Angeles, California - May 8, 2001**  
**  
**Willow POV****

So, this was Angel's hotel? It didn't look quite like how I'd imagined it to be, after all the phone calls with Cordelia where she'd described this place in detail.

Xander's car glided to a stop, and I looked around at my best friend. I was really worried about him, to tell you the truth. Not only had he lost Buffy just yesterday like we all did, but less than a week ago he'd lost Anya as well. I just hoped that deep down, Xander didn't blame me for that...

I mean, it wasn't _my _fault that Anya tripped and fell at the exact wrong moment when the Knights of Byzantium forced us off the road and into that abandoned gas station, was it?

It was that guy Dante who killed her, before Anya could join the rest of us and I finally got that shield up. And Goddess, I know it's wrong – but I can't help hoping that that guy is burning in Hell right now, after Glory killed him and all the other Knights that evening...

"Will? We're here. You gonna go inside and tell Deadboy what's the what, or do you want me to do it?"

I winced at his tone. I knew Xander was hurting, but did he have to sound so cold? So disgusted at actually being here? Sure, he and Angel had never been best buddies in the old days, but Buffy had loved him. More than she'd ever loved any other guy – up to and including Riley. Who was God only knows where at the moment...

"Xander, I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to Angel right now," I said as calmly as possible.

"Then why'd you ask me to drive you all the way here to LA?" Xander asked, finally turning to look at me with those big brown eyes of his.

Good question, but one I didn't want to answer. I mean, what was I supposed to say? The truth sure wasn't an option. '_I didn't want to leave you all alone in Sunnydale, just in case you did something stupid and suicidal._' Yeah, like hearing _that_ would go down real well with him right at this moment.

"Never mind Will, time's a-wastin'. You should just go in there and tell Captain Hair Gel what happened with the Buffster yesterday. Because he really deserves to know what took place," Xander said spitefully, after I was silent for a bit too long.

"Xander...please. Don't. You know that Buffy wouldn't want this," I practically begged him to stop with the barbed comments. "Can't you put your personal feelings for Angel aside, just this once? He's going to be devastated once he hears the news-"

"And Lord knows how we wouldn't want that! Because I lost track of how many times you tried calling Lord of the Brood for help against Glory, and no one was home every time you dialed his number," Xander spat out.

"Can't help wondering what's up with that, personally. Well, apart from when I wonder how I'm going to claim Ahn's body from the morgue, and finally give her a decent funeral."

_Ouch_. I couldn't help feeling guilty about that, as I had gotten Tara back safe and sound (not to mention sane); whereas Xander had lost the love of his life. He'd confessed to me that he'd been thinking of asking Anya to marry him, but he'd never even gotten the chance to ask...and now he never would.

"Do you want me to help you plan the funeral, after we get back to Sunnydale?" I asked as I got out of the car, and looked back in through the window.

"Nah. It's something I gotta do myself," Xander replied, visibly deflating. "Look, Willow, I'm sorr-"

"It's okay," I interrupted reassuringly. "I mean, hey, you're still stressed, we all are! But it's all gonna be all right eventually. I mean, it-it has to be..."

Oddly, I wasn't too sure which of us I was trying to convince with that statement – because any way you tried to paint it, Buffy was still dead. So was Anya. And those of us who had survived this latest apocalypse had to pick up the pieces, and try to rebuild our lives without them.

Including poor Dawnie.

I walked up the garden path, as Xander decided to go cruising around the block rather than just wait outside the hotel. I didn't blame him for it; he didn't want to see Angel, or even Cordelia again.

Maybe I should've insisted that he talk to her, back in high school she had always been able to make him listen when no one else could. But then there was no point trying to rush things, besides I should probably talk to Cordelia alone first, anyway.

I wandered into the hotel, and straightaway I noticed the abandoned feel to the place. There was a slight cover of dust on all the furniture; about a week's worth, maybe a bit less. "Cordelia? Angel?" I called out, even if I wasn't really expecting a reply.

Sure enough, silence. So I sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby, and I waited for someone to show up.

I waited...and I waited...and I waited, until not long after sunset, I finally heard voices outside the main doors.

"Okay. Can I say it? I wanna say it." That was Angel's voice, I instantly recognized it.

"Say what?" Okay, now that was Wesley's British accent talking. I'd heard it often enough over the phone for the last year or so.

Just then Angel pushed the double doors open, walking into the lobby. "There's no place like..."

Then Angel spotted me, hunched over and looking miserable. "Willow?"

Everyone else started staring at me as well. Wesley, some black guy whom I was guessing was Gunn, some smelly brunette in rags I had no idea who she was, Cordelia – who was dressed in something straight out of a low-quality porno – and of course, Angel himself.

"What's-?" Cordy started to say, but I kept my eyes focused entirely on Angel as I got up off that chair.

I didn't say anything. I didn't have to. I could tell that Angel had figured it out by now. From the expression on my face, there was obviously only one person – one reason – why I'd be here now.

"It's Buffy," Angel said, his good mood evaporating like a snowball thrown into a blast furnace.

**|0|0|**

**Somewhere underneath Los Angeles – August 10, 2001**  
**  
××Angel POV××**

Dammit all to hell. It's been two years since I've been down here in the sewers where that temple housing the Oracles used to be, and now I can't find it to go in there and trash the place! Unleash all my frustrations, after going to that monastery in Sri Lanka and encountering those life-sucking Shur-hod demons.

Maybe Gunn was right. Maybe I should've gotten tanked and gone to Vegas instead...

Eventually, I gave up and started making my way back to the hotel. It's been three months; I can't help wondering what everyone has been doing ever since I left for the summer. Ever since Willow broke the news to me that Buffy had died, and I hadn't been there to save her.

I'd had nightmares about it at the start, of course. The woman I loved had been in the fight of her life (and lost it), and where was I? Off in Pylea, trying to rescue Cordelia. Not that I regretted going to that demon world after her, of course – Cordy's life is far too important to me – but damn it, I _should _have been there in Sunnydale when it mattered.

If _Spike_ of all people had been there, so should I!

I suddenly changed my mind about going to the hotel, and headed off in the direction of Lorne's karaoke bar. I had to talk to him about an idea I'd gotten, so it didn't take me long to get to the Chinatown district and bang on his club door. "Lorne? You home?"

Finally, he opened up. "Angel? Jumping junipers, big guy, but what are you doing here at this time of night?"

"I need your help," I said as I walked into Caritas. "I've decided on a course of action, but I'm not sure if...I want you to read me. Right now. I want to..." I couldn't bring myself to actually say it.

"You wanna sing for me?" Lorne was actually smirking.

"If I have to." I'd get him back for this one day, but right now – business first.

"Fine. Hit me."

"_Oh Mandy. Well you came and you gave without taking, but I sent you away, oh Mandy. Well, you kissed me and stopped me from shaking..._" I started singing.

"Stop!" Lorne backed away from me, actually looking scared. "I mean, forget it! Angel-cakes, don't ask me to take part in that upcoming lunacy of yours, no way - no how! What you're planning to do...it's a _very_ bad idea!"

"Did you see myself, or any of my people die?" I asked. I honestly hadn't expected the Host to freak out like this.

"Well, no..." Lorne reluctantly admitted. "All I saw was...something emerging out of a portal in your hotel. Something literally coated with darkness!"

"Something from a hell dimension?" Oh, God, that was my worst fear come to life. Buffy had died a mystical death that morning, and Willow had admitted she had no idea what might have happened to her soul after she and the Sunnydale crowd had found her body...if Buffy had been in Hell for the past three months...

"I don't know. Hell dimension, demon dimension...might even be the higher dimension where the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart are rumored to live," the Host shrugged.

"_Lorne_..."I said uncertainly, before my voice firmed up. "Look, if something dark does come through first, I can always kill it and then go in after her! Because if Buffy's soul really is trapped in some sort of hell world like I was afraid of, I can't just sit around and do nothing!"

"Well, obviously not," Lorne admitted reluctantly. "Still – when you got sent to a hell dimension a few years back, slick, you were still in your body. That's why the Powers were able to bring you back to this reality in one piece. But from what I saw, the Slayer's body is now in a coffin buried somewhere in Sunnydale. So what are you planning to do - carry her soul back to Earth in an Orb of Thesulah, or something? And if so, then what? A black magic resurrection ritual?"

"I don't know! I haven't had a chance to figure all this out yet, gimme a few minutes," I threw my arms out in annoyance. "But you want to know what really bugs me? A couple of years ago, I gave up being human, because I was told it would cause Buffy's death. But a few months ago, she died anyway! I - well, I'm pretty sure the Oracles were just messing with me way back when, because even though I became a vampire again..."

"No, no, they weren't messing with you. Because it was her time, ya big hunk of hero sandwich," Lorne said sympathetically. "Even though I never met Buffy Summers personally, I've seen enough of her in your aura to know that she was one of the good ones. But she was still a Slayer, and as such? Pretty short expiration date. Heck, it's only due to the fact that her little buddy saved her life four years ago when you couldn't, that she lasted as long as she did-"

"I'm not interested in anything to do with _Xander Harris_," I interrupted him forcefully. That guy had always rubbed me the wrong way, and I was sure the feeling was mutual. That night when he'd picked up Willow to go back to Sunnydale, after she'd told me that Buffy had died...

All right, fine. Maybe the expression on Xander's face was partly responsible for what I'd decided to do, here and now.

Anyway, I finally managed to get Lorne to agree to contact this priestess friend of his and to meet us at the Hyperion, and that's all that really mattered.

Well, apart from explaining to my crew just what exactly I was planning to do...

"Are you totally out of your teeny-weeny little undead mind?"

I winced as I heard Cordelia shriek like a banshee. Obviously, meeting up with that Harmony vampire again six months ago had made some of her high school habits come back with a vengeance. "Look, Cordelia-"

"Because correct me if I'm wrong, but you're talking about raising the dead or something!" Cordy shouted, interrupting me. "Angel, _please_, I know you. And from the moment you walked through the hotel's front doors, I could tell that something was off! You're not thinking straight-"

"Yes I am," I cut her off this time. "Say, where's Fred? I haven't seen her ever since I got back-"

"She's up in her room, and don't try to change the subject!" Cordy sounded pissed. "Look, Angel..."

"No, you look," I said roughly. "Cordy, I've walked the Earth for two hundred and fifty-odd years, and I spent another hundred or so in Acathla's hell dimension - getting tortured in ways you couldn't possibly understand. In all that time...no one apart from Buffy really mattered. Not like she did. And now she's gone-"

"And you're still here," Cordelia interrupted, looking exasperated.

"Which is why I'm going to open that portal to whatever hell dimension her soul ended up in, and get her out of there," I said firmly, one hand unconsciously covering the pocket with an Orb of Thesulah in it. "I know that something might go wrong, in fact it probably will. But it's _Buffy_; I'm not going to just leave her in whatever dark place she's currently stuck in!"

"You sure she's not in Heaven or something? 'Cause the way I heard it from that Willow girl, dog, this Buffy person saved the world few months back. How do you know you're not gonna be dragging her away from her eternal reward or whatever?" Gunn suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, trust me – when Angel here sang for me earlier on tonight, I got a glimpse of whatever it was that he's gonna summon. And there was nothing heavenly about it," Lorne said with a shudder. "If it was from the same place as that Buffy girl who the big stud-muffin's been angsting over, no way we'll be yanking her out of Paradise!"

"Angel, I'd like to speak with you in private for a moment if I may," Wes said to me. He gestured, and I joined him in his private office. My old office. Whatever. Then Wesley said, "I just have one question. Are you sure that this is the right thing to do?"

"It's Buffy, Wes. How can you ask me that?" I demanded in amazement.

"Because I can't help thinking that you're rushing into this full speed ahead, and the Devil take the hindmost," Wesley replied softly. "Please understand; I don't mean to diminish Miss Summers's death. I was once her Watcher, and I mourn her loss as well. But have you _truly_ considered everything that might go wrong, if we proceed with your plan? Is it _truly _worth it for you to attempt to violate the laws of nature like this?"

"It's Buffy, Wes," I repeated myself. "I'd go all the way into Hell itself – again – if that meant saving her from whatever tortures her soul is undergoing!"

Wesley just stared at me, and then he abruptly nodded. I felt relieved; for a moment I'd thought that as the boss of the detective agency, he was going to forbid Lorne's friend from doing that ritual in the hotel. And it would have been a pain for me to do it somewhere else, behind Wesley's back and all.

After we left the office, Wes went up to Mistress whatever-her-name-was. "We're ready to proceed whenever you are."

"_Wesley_-!" Cordelia squawked, right on cue.

"Cordelia, The decision has been made. So kindly stop bugging me and everyone else about it," Wes told her in his toughest 'boss' voice. "If you don't want to be party to any of this, that is your choice - and we shall see you again first thing in the morning. But if you decide to stay, you will _please _cease your incessant complaints! So choose. Now."

I could see Cordelia's eyes narrow dangerously, and I could literally smell her boiling anger at being spoken to that way. I was just glad that her rage wasn't directed at me any longer. "I can take you home in my car, if you want-"

"No! No," Cordy growled angrily, transferring all her fury to me in an instant. "I'm staying here. Someone is gonna have to clean up the mess, when all this explodes in our faces!"

"Sure am glad to know I'm not the only one thinkin' that something's gonna go wrong here," Gunn shrugged. "But hey, I signed on with you guys knowin' that this gig wasn't gonna be no walk in the park..."

"Then let's get on with it," I said impatiently.

"You should know that I've never actually done something like this before," the priestess said with a pointed look, "but according to the texts I've consulted, a pentagram within a circle is required first off."

I began drawing said pentagram within a circle on the lobby floor and when I was done, I looked over to the woman in black. "What next?"

"You need a sacrifice of blood. Human – female," Mistress Meerna said calmly. "Since you desire to summon a female from the other side, only the blood of a living woman will do."

"Wait, so if I say no – then this whole insane thing ends, right? You cease and desist from the crazy messing around with primordial powers of darkness, here?" Cordelia demanded, suddenly looking a lot more cheerful.

"If you say no, then I'll just go upstairs and ask Fred to do it. And if she says no, then I'll go somewhere else and find someone else to get the job done," I told her a bit more harshly than I'd intended. "So what's it going to be, Cordy?"

Glaring at me, Cordelia grabbed a pen-knife from Wes and walked over to the pentagram. She glared at me again and muttered something about how I was really going to owe her for this one, before slowly slicing the knife across the palm of her left hand and letting the blood drop onto the middle of the pentagram.

Immediately, all the lights went out.

"What the hell-?" Gunn said nervously, clutching his home-made axe tighter.

"Everyone, just stay calm," Wesley said reassuringly. "Mistress Meerna?"

"Osiris, Eryishon and Quetzalcoatl, hear my prayer," the priestess said, closing her eyes. "Here stands the vampire with a soul, the champion for the Powers That Be. He seeks the other chosen servant of the Powers, who has now passed on. This one, the woman with whom he has shared his seed and fed on her blood – let her cross over. So mote it be, from whatever dimension she is located – _let her cross over_!"

The ground started shaking as a blue light began to swirl above the painted circle, then it congealed into a vaguely humanoid shape in the middle of the pentagram. Naturally, given Lorne's little prophecy of doom, I reached for my battle-axe. There was a flash of light and a burst of wind, and then...

What the hell? Was that Cordelia standing there? Cordelia...with a vampire face?

Lorne yelped, "I told you that this was a bad idea!"

**|0|0|**

**A few seconds earlier**  
**  
·· Vamp Cordelia POV ··**

What the hell? That Slayer bitch Faith had been just about to stake me, after the hotel had been invaded by those Watcher's Council assholes...

Wait a second. The Hyperion's lobby looked just like it did when Wesley had taken over the place, months ago. Where were all the fucking modifications I'd made, after my dearly departed 'brother' had ended up dust? Hell, where were all my minions?

Some green demon I'd never seen before yelped, "I told you that this was a bad idea!"

"What the fuck just happened?" I roared, my eyes widening as I took in the sight of Wes and Angelus. "And how the hell did you two come back from being dust?"

Then I saw who else was present, staring at me with her jaw nearly on the floor. I could hear the heartbeat and smell my own scent, not to mention see my own face for the first time since Angelus had sired me.

So sue me, I was surprised. "This is not possible..."

I heard the dull '_phut!_' of a tranquilizer rifle being fired – puh-lease, after all the times Oz had needed to be tranq'ed during high school when he was a werewolf, how could I fail to recognize it? – and I knew I had to get out of the way of the tranquilizer dart. But what with that damned arrow in my shoulder thanks to one of the Watchers shooting at me with a crossbow, I was slow. Too slow to move out of the way in time.

Oblivion swallowed me whole, and I knew nothing more for a while.

"You know how some people hate to say 'I told you so'? Not me. I told you so, Angel-cake, and now look what's happened!"

I woke up to find myself securely strapped to a chair. I opened my eyes and took in the impossible sight of my sire, Wesley, the demon, some black guy I didn't know and...the human me. They were all arguing furiously, and not paying any attention to yours truly.

I tried to figure out what was going on. Obviously something must have happened, during that very last second when Faith had been about to stake me...

"Hey, she's awake!" my other self suddenly called out, after glancing in my direction. Damn it, maybe I should have pretended to still be unconscious – but it's too late for that now. Besides, since Angelus was here - that would have been a complete waste of time, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Now what the hell is going on?" I demanded, struggling to get loose. "Get these damn ropes off of me!"

The black guy raised his axe. "Has this vamp got a soul or what?"

"No. I can't smell one on her," Angelus – or maybe it was Angel? – spoke up, staring at me.

"Okay, then far as I'm concerned – that means you're fair game," the asshole said to me, while I openly sneered at him. "You may look like Cordelia here, but that don't mean squat to me, ya dig? You try to get loose, you're a pile o' dust."

"_Ooooh_, now I'm shaking in my stylish yet affordable boots," I said to him with a contemptuous smile. "No, wait, I'm really not. Y'know, I'm going to enjoy killing you when the time comes. I bet your blood is gonna taste just like Denzel Washington's!"

"Ewww!" my other self said in disgust. "You killed him? I am _so _gonna need years of therapy to get over this!"

"Everyone, hold on a moment," Wesley – and I was suddenly stunned to realize that he was human – commanded. "All right, vampire, start talking. Who are you?"

"I'm Cordelia Chase, of course," I told him haughtily. "C'mon, Wes, as if you didn't know that!"

"Hey, I'm Cordelia Chase!" my doppelganger shouted, looking infuriated. "Now cut the bullshit, and tell us who you really are!"

Wait a minute. A vampire and a human me? The vampire version suddenly finding herself in a totally alien environment? All this reminded me of...

"Say. Remember when that Willow vampire showed up during high school, how she came from another world?" I demanded, and sure enough – Wes, Angelus and the other me, their eyes went wide with understanding. "Yeah, now we're getting somewhere. So did someone here do something naughty with the magicks recently?"

Everyone turned to stare at Angelus, who actually looked ashamed. That settled it; obviously this was Soul Boy, and _not_ the Scourge of Europe. "I shoulda known. You freaking idiot! What the hell did you think you were doing?" I chastised him.

"Yeah, that's what I said!" the human Cordelia nodded enthusiastically.

"I was trying to bring Buffy back, not that it's any of your business," Angel growled at me.

"So, Slutty the vampire layer's dead in this world? Good! Did I kill her? No, of course I didn't. I'm still a human goody-two shoes here," I said musingly, before I turned to face Wesley. "And so are you, obviously."

"I'm a vampire where you come from?" Wesley wanted to know. Oh yeah, you could take the man out of the Watchers, but not the Watcher out of the man; at least, not while Wes was still alive.

"Sure, well – you were. Until one of my minions staked you, after you staked Angelus," I told him with a genuine smile. "What can I say, brother dear? I didn't like sharing power, and you were so busy intending to fuck me that you simply never noticed what kind of danger you were in. Kinda odd, really – I thought our sire had taught you better than that!"

"Sire?" the black guy asked suspiciously.

"Angelus," I smirked, gesturing with my head towards Soul Boy.

"I'm not him," Angel said roughly, avoiding the incredulous looks from Wes and the human me.

"Yeah. 'Cause you're even more of a pansy than Angelus was! Plus that big rape-slash-death scene when you had your wicked vampire way with me? That was not fun," I told him scathingly.

The human me looked sick all over again, staring at Angel before turning her head to stare at me. "He actually did that to me? Uh, to you? When? Where?"

"In the old headquarters for Angel Investigations. And back when that _whore _actress Rebbecca Lowell showed up," I said carefully.

"Ah, I see. That would explain why you look somewhat younger than our Cordelia - it's been roughly eighteen months, after all," Wesley nodded, those big squishy lobes of his obviously working overtime.

"Eighteen months? In my world, it's only been eight months since...oh, I hate magic," I said grumpily.

"Someone mind telling me what the heck you people are talkin' about?" the black guy demanded.

"Ditto. I'm kinda lost here myself," the green demon admitted sheepishly.

I stayed silent as Angel, Wes and the other Cordelia explained what had happened with the actress woman way back when and the drug that had let Angelus get loose from his chains. Apparently, he'd only been unleashed briefly here - before he'd been knocked out cold and strapped down to a bed, until the Doximall had worn off.

It gave me a certain amount of pleasure to tell them all how in my world, Angelus had stayed loose and turned both me and Wesley. I also mentioned how working together, the three of us had slaughtered everyone at the LA branch of Wolfram & Hart; then, over time, after I'd had enough...I'd dusted both Wes and Angelus to create my own little empire.

The human Cordelia looked sick all over again, staring at me. "There but for the grace of getting bit, go I..." she muttered.

"Hey, it's not like it was all bad! C'mon, remember all those fantasies we had about making Xander pay for cheating with Willow? In _my_ world, he definitely paid for all his sins after I killed her and tortured him for ages - before I finally sired the dying doofus!" I said merrily.

"You turned the Slayer's white knight into one of the undead?" the green demon asked in amazement, before turning to look accusingly at Angel.

"Lorne..." Angel said in annoyance. There was a look on his face I didn't understand, at least not yet; but I was glad I could finally put a name to Lean and Green's face now. Knowledge was power, and all that.

"Where is your Xander, anyway?" I asked my doppelganger.

"That's none of your business. Now, what else?" the human Cordy demanded, looking me right in the eye. "What else happened in your world, especially where Dweeb Boy is concerned?"

"Why do _you_ care?" I shot back. "I mean, are you still involved with your version of the big dork?"

"_No_!" Angel shouted, before the other Cordy had the chance to reply. From the body language and tone of voice, I figured he wasn't jealous of the guy; Angel just didn't want the local Xander anywhere near his Cordelia. Huh – that vampire never did like anyone else playing with his toys, soul or otherwise...

"Was I talking to you?" I said to Angel in annoyance, before turning back to the other Cordy. "Let's see. Where do I start? Wes and I, we went to Sunnydale after we officially parted ways with Angelus. We killed Willow, Buffy, Giles...not to mention Buffy's mom, Xander's girlfriend, and Willow's girlfriend as well. I've told you about torturing Xander, but did I mention dusting Spike and Harmony? No, I don't think I did..."

"That's it. My vote says we chop this thing's head off right now," the black guy suddenly spoke up in disgust. Everyone stared at him as he added, "Hell, after everything it's done? The sooner the better!"

"Not yet, Gunn," the other me shook her head. Good, now I know his name as well. "I still have more questions-"

"Like _what_? Who took over the Slayage after the Blonde Wonder finally took her big dirt nap? What happened when Faith fought my Xander?" I demanded, suddenly feeling infuriated.

"She killed him," Angel said knowingly, and you didn't have to be a vampire to tell how he wasn't unhappy to hear that.

"After Xander put _three _bullets into her, but yeah. That fucking bitch got creative with a welding torch," I spat hatefully.

"Faith? Psycho killer Faith who was sent to jail for, like, a gazillion years? They let her out of prison, in your world?" the human Cordy demanded. Then she narrowed her eyes, staring at me. "And you actually got pissed at her for dusting him?"

"Well, duh! Xander was like the perfect minion, after I broke him in the same way Angelus did Drusilla. Did whatever I told him to do, and helped me take over lots of LA. Plus, he could do things with his tongue that would make me scream in pleasure all night long!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Angel muttered, but too low for anyone human to hear him say that.

"What was that, Angel? I didn't quite catch it. So why don't you share with the rest of the class?" I challenged him.

"Shut up," he told me angrily. "One more word out of you, and I'll-"

"You'll what? You'll stake me?" I asked him sneeringly. "You couldn't kill the Willow vampire way back when, you really think you can kill someone with this face? _Pffft_, yeah right – you Buffy-whipped eunuch!"

Wesley turned to face Angel, who was looking pissed at _that _particular description. "We should call Rupert Giles in Sunnydale, in fact – we should have done so long before now. Most likely we'll have to see about arranging for Faith's release from prison, if she truly is rehabilitated, to take over as the new guardian of the Hellmouth."

"Yeah, and I'm sure that'll go down well with the Hellmouth crowd! Especially Willow and Xander..." the human version of me grumbled.

"Wait, Xander's still alive here?" I asked in amazement. Then I tuned out what everyone else started babbling about, because I'd gotten an idea...

Namely, if I was stuck in this crappy dimension now? I was gonna get loose somehow, sire Xander again and kill Faith at the first opportunity! Not to mention, start rebuilding my empire as soon as possible...

**00000**

**= = A Higher Plane = =**

Watching in astonishment, the woman in white had to admit she definitely wasn't expecting that! In fact, she hadn't been paying any attention at all to that particular universe any longer; She was sure that the Cordelia vampire of that reality was no longer relevant in any way, shape or form. Apparently, she had been wrong...

Habit was a strange thing; she found herself looking at her fingernails, like she'd done when still human. When she'd realized that she was neither omnipotent nor omniscient. It was funny how that turned out, considering where she'd ended up, but...

**_What now_**, she wondered. From what the woman could sense, the Cordelia vampire wouldn't stay a captive for long, so what would happen to the human Cordelia of this universe? Not to mention the local Xander Harris as well? She could never interfere directly; the Powers wouldn't stand for that. But still, she could watch over them and pray for those two; hopefully, someone Up There would be listening...

**00000**

**××Angel POV××**

I couldn't believe it – how could we have forgotten to tell Fred that there was an undead version of Cordelia tied up in the lobby? She had come downstairs from her room, seen the prisoner, the Cordelia vampire had spun some sort of yarn about being tied up as part of a prank...

And the rest was obvious. We were just incredibly lucky that Fred was still alive, the Cordelia vampire must have been in too much of a hurry to do anything more than knock her unconscious before she'd escaped from the hotel.

I could see the human Cordelia - the _real _Cordelia - staring at me furiously. Me and Wes, but mostly me. After all, I'm the one who brought that soulless thing into this world, despite everyone's warnings to the contrary. This was my mess to clean up, and obviously I had to get on with the job.

"We should spread out and search for El Vampira, she can't have gotten far..." Gunn started to say.

"That'll take too long. Lorne, can you read me if I sing?" Cordelia interrupted him. "I mean, I figure since we're practically the same person and all..."

"Hit me with your best chick-flick number, princess," Lorne nodded.

"_The greeeeatest love of all! Is eeeeeasy to achieve_-!" Dear God, Cordy still made me want to block my ears to avoid hearing her horrible singing voice.

"That's enough! From what I saw, the bad guy's over halfway to Sunnydale by now," Lorne shook his head. "What you people should do is get in touch with that Xander Harris fellow, and warn him about the danger he's now in; on account of the vampire Cordelia is going after him – and once she gets him in her sights, he's done for! Better yet, call that Willow girl instead; she'd have a better chance of making him lie low for a while."

"Oh, screw that! I'm going back to the Hellmouth to warn Xander personally. It's the least I can do, considering what's happened!" Cordelia snapped.

"Cordy-"

"Shut up, Angel! _You're_ the one who got us into this mess in the first place!" Her face was incensed, and her eyes were like twin coals of fire. I'd seen Cordelia pissed off before, sure, but not like this. Never like this.

Gunn spoke up, "So, who wants to ride shotgun in my truck?"

"I will, assuming that that undead bitch didn't steal Angel's convertible! Which, odds are, she did. Hey, I oughta know - she's me without a soul, after all," Cordy said bitingly.

I checked, and sure enough my Plymouth was missing in action; we were going to have to use Wesley's car and Gunn's truck in order to head north. Then Lorne left to go back to his nightclub, wishing us a heartfelt bon voyage, and the rest of us went over to the weapons cabinet to arm ourselves for the upcoming trip to Sunnydale.

It was time to go hunting.

**|0|0|**

**Sunnydale, California – A few hours later**  
**  
·· Vamp Cordelia POV ··**

I don't get it - I fucking _hate_ the Bronze, or at least this version of it anyway. When I was alive, apart from the Sunnydale mall this nightclub was like my natural habitat - well, back in the days before those IRS bastards took everything. And yet nowadays I hate the damn place. It's not even a decent hunting ground, compared to LA.

I'd been looking for Xander since I'd arrived in town, but without any luck so far. After I'd gone to his parents' house, I'd encountered a drunken Tony Harris – and he'd initially thought I was a hooker. Why the hell he didn't remember me from when I'd been dating Xander in high school, I could easily guess; his number of working brain cells had to be down to the absolute minimum from all the alcohol poisoning.

Anyway, he said he didn't know where his son was living nowadays, and he didn't care either. Given how he'd leaned far enough across the threshold with that stupid leer on his face, I'd punched the guy's lights out before saying, "I should kill you now, but since I'm in such a hurry I'll have to save that for my new childe..."

Then I'd come here to the Bronze to look for my boy, since I knew this place was the favorite hangout for the entire Scooby Gang; but I'd be able to hide if I had to. I knew I wouldn't have much time before those stupid white hats in LA called their counterparts here in Sunnyhell, and the dearly departed Slayer's groupies would start looking for me.

Hell, I'd suspected the local version of Xander would already know I was coming for him, when I finally tracked him down; but fortunately for me, he didn't.

The stupid geek was just sitting in a booth within the Bronze. When he looked up and saw me, Xander didn't tense up or give any other indication that he knew what I was; he just stared at me for two seconds, before turning back to his beer and having another drink.

Hmm. That gave me an idea...

The thing was, I'd had sex with Xander plenty of times when he was a vampire. I'd trained him pretty well; heck, yelling "More tongue, less fang!" and viciously smacking Harris on the top of his head was a pretty effective teaching method while he was pleasuring me in bed.

But still - sex with a human is vastly different from sex with a vampire. Personal experience talking, here.

So what if...what if I pretended to be the Cordelia of this reality for a while? What if I successfully managed to seduce this Xander, before I tortured and turned him into what I wanted? Time wasn't on my side, granted, and I knew I'd only get one shot at this - if I said or did the wrong thing at the wrong time, the jig would be up straightaway.

But then life – or even un-life – is all about taking risks to get what you want, isn't it? This was my one and only opportunity to acquire something I'd never had before.

Something new. Something appealing. Something...

...worthy of a vampire like myself.

I made up my mind, and sauntered over to the booth. "Mind if I sit down?" I did my best 'Queen C' impersonation.

"What are you doing here in Sunnydale, Cordelia?" he asked, as I settled in alongside him. From the slight slur in Xander's voice, I could tell he'd been here drinking for a while.

"_What_, I'm not allowed to come visit the old home town?" Then I pseudo-sighed, "Truth is, I needed a break from Angel and everyone else at the Hyperion for a while."

Xander finally looked at me and frowned. "Hey, you look kinda different from when I saw you a few months ago. I dunno - younger, maybe..."

Shit. I'd forgotten about that, but then I'm pretty quick on my feet and I had the perfect excuse ready. "Well, I'm glad to see the new makeup works the way it's supposed to! I've been thinking of trying something new in the Maybelline oeuvre, you know, but given the fact that I'm both a winter and a summer-"

"Please, spare me!" the big dumbass interrupted my attempt to educate him a little on one of the female fundamentals. "We're not together anymore, Cordy. So gone are the days when I'm obliged to listen to your mind-numbing chit-chat, in the hope of eventually getting some touch in that high school broom closet."

I smacked him on the arm, just barely preventing myself from vamping out. "What is your problem, mister?"

Xander sighed before again turning to look at me with those sad brown eyes of his. "I'm sorry, Cor. It's just – I'm missing Anya more than ever tonight. I mean, it's been three months since she died, but I still see her face everywhere I look in Sunnydale..."

Anya? Oh yeah - my evil fairy godmother who Xander had been an item with, way back when. So, she was dead here? Too bad, I'd been looking forward to killing her myself all over again!

"You wanna get out of here?" I asked him abruptly. "I dunno about you, but it's way too stuffy and crowded in here for my liking."

Xander shrugged, I could tell he didn't care one way or the other. "Whatever. Hey, you're not staying at a motel or something, are you?" he suddenly sounded concerned as he looked at me.

"No, I told you – I just got into town," I said as patiently as I could. Damn it, this was taking forever! "Look, why don't we just go back to your place? I heard that you're not living with your parents anymore, and so with your tastes - I shudder to think what sort of fashion disaster is the current state of your apartment! It'll be my good deed for the day, to critique and try to fix your place up a little."

Xander rolled his eyes as he got off his bar stool, but he didn't say anything as he led the way out of the Bronze to the parking lot.

Good. I wasn't in the mood for conversation, and I didn't know for how much longer I could keep the 'Cordy' act going either.

**|0|0|**

**END**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Promise To Lie 2: Dark Mirror**

Authors: Starway Man, Nodakskip and zTiamaTz

**|0|0|**

**××Angel POV××**

Sunnydale. Home of the Hellmouth. It had been a while since I'd been here; the night of Joyce's funeral, if I recall rightly. Buffy and I had lain together against that tree, cuddling and occasionally kissing. I'd asked her how long she wanted me to stay, and I'd never forgotten her answer...

"_Does forever work for you?_"

Just as Wesley's car hit the corner of Weatherly Park, I felt my eyes bulge out. "Who - what - is that?" I demanded straightaway, staring in disbelief at Buffy fighting a couple of vampires. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to do so, either. "Wes, pull over!"

He did so, as did Gunn in his truck. We all got out and Wesley called out in disbelief, "Miss Summers? Is that you?"

After I'd finished off one of the vamps and she'd finished off the other, Buffy said, "Yes, I'm Buffy Summers! You're Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, my former Watcher. And you're Angel! You're lame, you have stupid hair, and you wear lifts," the blond said to me with an annoying smile plastered all over her face.

"Something's wrong. She doesn't even sound like Buffy," I said straightaway. I inhaled deeply, and then I figured it out. "This is a machine of some sort!"

"You mean, this is a frickin' robot? God damn! Whoever built her, they built her real well," Gunn whistled in appreciation, which just made me angrier.

"Thank you! Your compliment is most appreciated, whoever you are," the Buffybot replied with that increasingly annoying smile.

"Okay, what's the deal here? Why is there some sort of lame-ass Robo-Buffy hanging around Sunnydale?" Cordelia wanted to know.

"Cordelia Chase! You've returned from Los Angeles. I once called you a vapid whore, and you called me a crazy freak," 'Buffy' said with an even bigger smile than before.

"Okay, whoever built this thing? They built it a little too well," Cordelia said in disgust. "Come on, Buffybot; let's hear it! The truth, and nothing but."

"I'm Buffy Summers. I was built by my creator, Warren Mears. I patrol the streets of Sunnydale at night, because Sunnydale needs a Slayer," the Buffybot said, looking at all of us in turn.

"So, the Slayer's people hired someone to build you after she died? Gosh, that's thinkin' outside the box!" Fred exclaimed, going up to the Buffybot and examining it carefully.

"No, Spike had me custom-built long before that. Because he was in love with Buffy, but she wasn't in love with him, so he decided to settle for me," the robot said with a smile on its face, as if something like that was perfectly okay.

"_What?_" By that point, I was seething with fury. Spike had acquired a sex-bot created in Buffy's image? Even if it was only a machine, just the _concept _of Spike having sex with someone possessing my beloved Buffy's face – it made me want to track him down, and tear his damned fangs out one by one!

"Well, that's just...ewww! There is not enough 'yuck' in this world for me to express just how disgusting that is," Cordelia spoke up, looking revolted. "Why the hell are you still around, anyway? Why hasn't someone sent you to the scrap heap before now?"

"Oh, I still slay so that the townspeople will think Buffy is alive, and Child Services won't take away my little sister, Dawn."

"We don't have time for this," I said roughly. "You, the Buffy robot. Get in the car! We need to get to the Summers residence right now." So saying, we all quickly set off again and soon arrived at 1630 Revello Drive.

Buffy's house. I knew it so well; I can remember every single time I came here while she was attending high school. Both as Angel and Angelus. I just wish I knew what to expect, now that both Buffy and Joyce were gone...

I remembered how Cordelia had called Xander's parents' house from Los Angeles but his dad had yelled, "I kicked that little shit out a long time ago!" – and since we didn't have a cell or land-line number to call, Cordy had telephoned here but no one had been home.

Which was kinda odd, as I'd expected _Dawn _at least to be present. Well, it was Friday night; maybe the gang took her out to a movie at the Sun Cinema or something while the Buffybot took care of the Slaying.

Anyway, Cordy had left a quick message before we'd all piled into our cars and taken off down the interstate to get here. Just our luck that we'd been greatly delayed along the way, by a multi-car pile-up about halfway into the journey.

"So, this is the place?" Fred asked timidly. Damn that Cordelia vampire! She did what she did right after I'd told Fred that she was safe in the hotel, and that she had nothing to fear any longer. It wouldn't surprise me if Fred ran straight back into her hotel room and never came out again, once all this was over.

"Indeed," Wes said, answering Fred's question.

"The house doesn't look as if it's changed a bit. Y'know, from the night all those zombies showed up here," Cordelia sniffed.

"Zombies?" Gunn and Fred demanded.

"There was a big battle involving an African tribal mask and my welcome-home party, during the start of my senior year," the Buffybot said brightly. "Still, that's all in the past now."

"Right," Cordelia said as she pressed the doorbell and threw me an unfriendly look. "We've got other priorities right at the moment."

Note to self: once that soulless vampire is dust, buy Cordelia lots of clothes to get her to forgive me for what I did earlier on tonight. Hey, if it worked once before, it should work again...

Willow opened the door, and blinked at us in confusion. "Cordy? Angel? What are you guys doing here?" Obviously, she must not't have checked the answering machine yet.

"We need to talk," Cordelia said before she barged inside without waiting for an invitation. Everyone else followed, and I brought up the rear – huh, kinda funny how I still had access to the house. I'd have thought Joyce would have gotten someone to do that ritual to rescind Buffy's invitation ages ago.

"What's up?" Willow asked, as Dawn and that Tara girl joined her and the Buffybot went to the kitchen. Good riddance, as far as I was concerned.

"Angel has something he'd like to tell you," Wesley said, taking over as the spokesman of our little group. "_Angel_?"

I opened my mouth to tell them everything, and the three Sunnydale women listened as I explained what had happened in the Hyperion earlier tonight. Then they started glaring at me for what I'd done.

Not that I cared much what Willow and Tara thought – despite everything that went wrong, I still think I was right in trying to do that spell if Buffy's soul really is trapped in some hell dimension – but I did care about Dawn admitting that the Sunnydale gang didn't see much of Xander these days. Apparently the guy showed up to help with the nightly patrols, but he didn't bother to socialize with everyone very often anymore.

I guess I couldn't really blame Harris for that, not if it meant having to look at that damned robot day after day. I knew it'd drive me nuts seeing Buffy's face all the time, but always knowing that it's not really her.

"Xander's not answering his phone, I got diverted straight to voice mail," Willow reported, after trying both his numbers. "We better go check out his apartment."

"Xander finally got out of his parents' house?" I heard Cordelia mutter, as Tara went to the kitchen with Dawn and Willow left the Summers residence along with the rest of us. "I should have known that he'd finally had enough, and left those two behind!"

**|0|0|**

**·· Vamp Cordelia POV ··**

"_I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin'. I see bad times today..._"

I resisted the urge to clap my hands over my ears at the sound of Xander's drunken singing. I mean, Wes and Angelus had complained about _my_ singing voice way back when? This guy had me beat hands down!

"_Don't go 'round tonight. 'Cause it's bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise!_"

"Okay, enough already!" I told Xander, as I took the beer out of his hand and placed it on his coffee table. "Why the hell did you pick that song to sing, anyway?" My Xander had certainly never been a big fan of the movie "An American Werewolf In London".

"Too many women. I miss Oz," Xander said, sounding more than a little tipsy. The big dummy hadn't been too drunk when we'd arrived at his apartment – and my acting skills certainly didn't suck when I'd tricked him into inadvertently issuing an invitation, after I'd cringed at the doorway in fake horror over his apartment's furniture and decorations – but since then, Xander had definitely started trying to drown his sorrows.

"You miss Oz, huh? Why?" I demanded out of mild curiosity.

"He'd have understood. About Anya," Xander then hiccuped. "Guy was a musical genius, and the ultimate definition of cool. What the hell was I thinking, fooling around with his girl way back when..."

Good question, actually. When I'd been torturing my Xander in my world, I'd asked him the exact same thing – but he never could give me a decent answer before I'd finally made him my childe. "Yeah, I'm curious about that too. What _were _you thinking?"

Xander blinked, suddenly sobering up fast. "I dunno, Cor. Maybe it was just me bein' a hormonal jackass back then. But maybe, just maybe, it was...fate. I mean, how else could I have ever met Anya? She was the love of my life, and I'd have never known her if that craziness with Willow had never happened..."

"So _that_ justifies you cheating on me? _That _justifies me almost dying, because of that rebar?" Oh yeah, my acting skills were second to none tonight – take that, Angelus!

"No! God, no, Cordelia," Xander apologized frantically, the big idiot finally realizing just what sort of hole he'd dug himself into. "That should never, ever have happened! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you or disrespect you or anything-"

"Yeah, well, you did," I said huffily, crossing my arms and turning away from him. Oh God, I'm turning into such a ham...

"I'm sorry," Xander said again, like a kicked puppy. "Uh...I know it's nearly three years too late for asking, but is there anything I can do to make up for it?"

Okay, now this was the perfect opportunity I'd been waiting for! "Yeah. Kiss me."

"What?"

I couldn't help smirking at the expression on Xander's face. "Do you have _any_ idea how long it's been since I've kissed a guy?" It was just yesterday, actually, in my world – one of my minions, Doug, he was real skilled at cunnilingus – but then Xander didn't need to know that. "My life doesn't leave a lot of time for socializing, Xander. And you _owe me_, mister, despite the gift of that Prom dress way back when!"

"Uh, Cordy, look...I'm not so sure this is a good idea..." Xander began to say delicately.

"Why? Do you want me to tell Angel that you tried to force yourself on me instead?" I smirked at him.

"Hey!" Xander shouted, looking offended.

"Oh, just shut up and get over here!" Then I grabbed the guy, and shoved my tongue down his throat as far as it would go.

Xander struggled for a few moments, but then he gave in and just went with it. I wasn't surprised; I knew what Harris liked and I knew what turned him on, both as a human and a vampire. Less than a minute later, we had to take it into the bedroom.

"Oh, wait; I remember what you like..." I pushed him onto the bed, and then I pulled Xander's pants down.

After a brief aside in his kitchen, I subsequently put some ice chips in my mouth, telling the dumbass how the cold helps with pleasurable sensations; that it was a trick I'd learned in LA. Because Xander might have been drunk enough not to notice the cold when we were making out, but with my mouth on his choo-choo...he might actually get a clue. The ice would hide it well enough.

"Oh, Lord..." Xander gasped, as I went down on my knees and started slurping on his tool. "Cordy, you definitely haven't forgotten how much I..." Then he groaned in pleasure and pain.

Eventually, Xander sat down on the bed with his shirt off and his pants down around his ankles. I decided to do a little striptease with my blouse and bra, before going around behind him.

He was obviously still buzzed, because Xander didn't notice just how cold my hands were. "Oh man, is this a dream?"

"Well, it's not a nightmare," I said laughingly. I started to reach around and touch his chest, when I began to get very turned on by his neck. It was the smell and the sound of all that blood pumping around in his body, of course.

"Mmmm..." Hey, what can I say? That sort of thing really got me in the mood, as I moved around and sat on his lap.

Oh yeah. I was pretty damn sure how it was the sight of my naked breasts that were responsible for the major swelling rapidly taking place in Xander's groin. "See something you like, mister?"

"I'll say," Harris nodded, before he started to suck on my nipples.

Damn, he really was that talented with his tongue, no matter what universe I found myself in! I had to struggle against the urge to drain him dry and let him drink my blood right now; I knew I couldn't turn him here.

Sure, I might have enough time to have some fun with the guy...but the odds were Angel and co. would find us long before Xander would have enough time to rise as a vamp. Besides, I had to make sure Xander would be properly loyal to me after I turned him, which meant beating the independence out of him before I sank my fangs into his neck.

I was just about to push Xander down on his back, take off my skirt and panties and finally claim my prize, when of all the rotten luck – there was a loud banging at the front door, and multiple voices shouting Xander's name.

Damn it! They'd found us!

"What's going on-?" the big dummy started to say, before I hauled back and knocked Harris out cold with a single punch to the head. Well, but there was no time to be subtle.

Using all my strength, I hoisted Xander over my shoulders, jumped out of the bedroom window down to the grass below, and took off in his car as fast as I could.

**|0|0|**

**A Short While Later**

**××Angel POV××**

I had to admit; I was surprised that Harris could actually afford something in this apartment block, let alone this Sunnydale neighborhood. He had to be doing a lot better than I'd given him credit for - financially, that is.

"How can...Xander...afford...to live here?" Cordelia wheezed, out of breath from the fast run we were all doing up the stairs.

"Yes. I was...wondering that...myself," Wesley similarly panted.

"Construction always was a thriving business in Sunnydale," I told them as we ran up the staircase. Luckily, I wasn't out of breath like everyone else as I didn't need to breathe. "And if Xander is as good a carpenter as Willow says he is, that would explain it."

"Darn tootin'," Willow gasped, as we finally reached the floor that Xander lived on. "Heck, I've...lost track...how many times...he's fixed up the Magic Box...over the past twelve months..."

"The Magic Box?" Fred asked, struggling to breathe.

"Way I heard, it's this place Willow's people meet at to talk 'bout all the stuff that goes 'chomp' in the night, kinda like we do at the hotel," Gunn told her, getting his breath back a lot faster than the others. I wasn't all that surprised; he's a lot fitter than the other humans, after all.

"Over there! That's Xander's apartment," Willow pointed as we ran over to his front door. She started banging on the door and calling out Xander's name, everyone else quickly joining in.

I was just about to kick it down, when Willow spoke a word and gestured with her right hand – and the door flew inwards, literally blasted off its hinges. I was impressed – her powers had obviously progressed to the point where this girl was packing some serious witchy heat nowadays.

I was in such a hurry to take care of the Cordelia vampire – I could already smell her, inside the apartment – that I foolishly forgot all about the invitation barrier. I was surprised to bounce off that invisible shield so hard, I ended up slamming my back against the wall in the corridor. If I'd been thinking straight I'd have remembered that Xander had once sworn I would never be welcome in any house he lived in, but I wasn't and I didn't. Talk about embarrassing...

The others just quickly entered the apartment, even though Cordelia sent me a rather annoyed look as she did so. I watched impotently as the rest of the gang searched the apartment, before Willow and Cordelia entered Xander's bedroom. They soon exited again, Cordelia holding a bra and a blouse – one which all of us apart from Willow recognized – in one hand, and in her other hand she held a pair of pants and a really tacky-looking shirt. Exactly the sort Xander would wear.

My God, but right now - Cordy was looking madder than a caged bull fenced off from heifers in heat...

"That goddamn _tramp_!" Cordelia swore furiously. "She was here, I _know_she was! The bedroom window was open, and there was no sign of a body – she must have knocked Xander out and taken him with her!"

"Yo, any sign of blood?" Gunn wanted to know.

"Yes. It would help to know if this is still a rescue mission, or if it's – too late for that," Wes said haltingly.

"We didn't see anything," Cordelia said, as Willow nodded. "No signs of a struggle, just the mussed-up bed. I betcha she was pretending to be me, had her way with the stupid dork - and then skedaddled once she heard us coming!"

"Cordy, calm down," I said all the way over from the doorway. "We'll find her. Willow, can you do a locator spell or something?"

"Not here. All my supplies are back at the house," Willow said. She grabbed one of the articles of clothing from Cordy, and led the way out. "Come on!"

**|0|0|**

Later, back at the Summers residence, we found Giles there waiting for us; Tara or Dawn must have called him. He was looking – weathered. Old. The strain from losing his Slayer and the closest thing he had to a daughter had had quite the effect on him, I could tell. I also briefly wondered at how Rupert was still here - in my experience most Watchers returned to England after their Slayers finally died, but then I quickly brushed that aside. "Giles-"

"You stupid berk," he hissed at me, as we all entered the house. "What the bloody hell did you think you were doing earlier on tonight, you foolish git? You actually tried to summon Buffy's soul, and instead summoned an undead version of Cordelia from an alternate reality?"

"It wasn't like that-" I started to protest.

"I'll handle this, Angel. I was the one who gave you permission to attempt that ritual, after all," Wes cut me off with a warning look. "Mr. Giles, may we speak privately in the kitchen?"

Giles nodded and let himself be led away. Not before he sent a vicious glare in my direction, though. Obviously, I should avoid him for a while. Like the next five or ten years, maybe...

"Angel, that man - he really doesn't like you, does he?" Fred asked in wonder.

"Yeah, that's because Angelus tortured him for ages, back in our junior year of high school," Cordelia said, sharing a look with Willow. "And Giles can definitely hold a grudge about that sort of thing, right Willow?"

"Uh, I guess," Willow started gathering the things she needed for the tracking spell. "So, who should I scry for - him or her? I'm thinking Xander, since the spell might bomb given how there are two Cordelia's present, but if Xander's not with her-"

"Odds are he'll be wherever she is," Gunn shook his head. "El Vampira seemed _real _interested-like in your boy, back in LA."

"Why?" Willow demanded, as she let Tara take over some of the spell preparations. "I mean, I couldn't help wondering – why would the Cordelia vampire abduct Xander in the first place? I'm glad she didn't do it, of course, but - why didn't she just kill him in his apartment, if all she wanted was revenge or a quick meal?"

"Oh, come on, Willow – why do you think that undead skank didn't simply kill him when she had the chance? Why we found her clothes as well as his all over the floor in Xander's bedroom?" Cordelia demanded angrily.

I saw Willow's beautiful green eyes go wide with astonishment, then narrow in disgust. "You mean-?"

"Yeah. The vampire me was real fascinated when she heard that our Xander was still alive, back in LA." I saw Cordelia send me a Look as she added, "Odds are she wants to create a replacement for her Xander, which means repeating what she did in her reality here in our world..."

I suddenly got the distinct impression that Willow was barely restraining herself from incinerating me or turning me into a toad or something, so I excused myself and went upstairs to talk to Dawn. It wasn't just an escape on my part, I genuinely felt sorry for her – losing both her mother and her sister at such a young age, it'd probably cause issues later on in life. We talked for a while, before she went to check on the Buffybot - apparently it was recharging its batteries or something. I decided to go back downstairs, having no desire to look at that particular machine again.

"How are things going?" I asked, noticing that Giles and Wesley were still absent. Watcher types; it wouldn't surprise me if they were still chatting or reading each other's diaries or something.

"Slowly," Tara frowned. "Too slowly. For some reason, the spell just wasn't working right with Xander..."

Well, why didn't that surprise me? A certain Valentine's Day debacle suddenly came to mind, which made me smirk and my inner Angelus snarl with fury.

"...so we decided to switch our focus to the Cordelia vampire. Unfortunately, it's exactly like Willow was afraid of – the tracking spell leads to the human Cordelia right here in the house, not the vampire one somewhere in Sunnydale."

"We'll just have to keep trying," Willow said, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. She couldn't fool me, though, vampire senses and all. "Tara, could you give me some more sage?"

"Where's Cordy?" I asked Gunn and Fred, who were off to the side.

"Girl went out onto the front porch," Gunn gestured with his hubcap-axe.

"Yeah, a-a-and she was looking kinda upset," Fred added in her own two cents.

Well, that didn't sound good. I went outside and found my Vision Girl sitting on the swing, the same one I remembered Buffy used to sit on a few years ago. "Cordelia?"

"What is it, Angel?" she asked without looking at me.

"I was worried about you-" I started to say.

"Me? Why? Shouldn't you be more worried about Xander? Y'know, the guy who's probably being tortured to death right now – all because you wouldn't listen to me not to do that damned spell?" Cordy finally turned around to glare at me.

Damn it! It's gonna take a long time for me to live that down, I can tell. "Xander can take care of himself. After all, he's been doing it for a long time - ever since the day he first found out the truth about this world."

She laughed, and I almost cringed over how it was such an ugly sound; it was absolutely nothing like Cordelia's usual laugh at all. Quite frankly, it gave me the creeps.

"Against all the normal Sunnydale weirdness, maybe," my seer said. "But not against _her_. Like I said before, she's me without a soul. And deep down I know what I'm capable of, without any form of morality to restrain my actions. That Cordelia – she'll turn Xander into a vampire if she hasn't done so already, Angel. And I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you for that, no matter how many dresses you buy me to try to make up for it."

Ouch. Scratch that idea, then. "Look, Cordelia-"

"Do you even regret that Xander might be dead or dying right now, Angel? Look me in the eye, and tell me that you'd actually lose any sleep over it," Cordelia dared me, as she got up off the porch.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen, Cordelia – you know that. And no matter what, I'll track down that vampire and dust her the first opportunity I get-"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, what do you want me to say?" I finally exploded. "You know that Xander and I have never liked one another, you know how we got off on the wrong foot right from the start. In the old days, before you got involved in the Slaying, he acted like a jealous ass because Buffy picked me instead of him. I just did my best to always ignore him, but I'm sure _you_of all people know what Xander Harris is really like-"

"Yeah, I do. Xander Harris was my no-good cheating bastard of an ex-boyfriend, who nonetheless kept my secret and paid for my Prom dress after he learned that I was broke during senior year. He was a stupid clown who made lousy jokes to relieve the tension in the middle of the apocalypse, but he stuck with Buffy through thick and thin right up until the moment she died. He was the guy who started dating that former demon girl after I left him behind, the one who was responsible for summoning that Willow vampire - kinda like you're responsible for summoning my evil twin,"

Before I could say a word, she cut into me again in a way-too-calm voice. "And as far as I know, Xander never locked a bunch of evil lawyers in a basement with a couple of soulless vampires, or turned his back on all his friends after telling them that they were all fired."

I tried to keep my temper, even though that definitely wasn't easy. "I thought we were past all of that nowadays?"

"So did I. I guess the conversation with that undead 'ho back at the Hyperion, it affected me even more than I thought it did," Cordelia mused, turning away from me. "Because she was happy with her Xander, Angel, I could tell. Sure, it was an evil and twisted sort of affection, kinda like what I saw between Spike and Drusilla back in high school – but it was _real_to her. Real enough to want to make another Xander vampire, in order to take the dusted one's place."

I swear, if I had been human my heart would have stopped beating. "Cordelia? You're not...I mean, you haven't...developed feelings for Xander again, have you?"

She shrugged. "Well, what if I have? I haven't had much of a love life ever since arriving in Los Angeles...Doyle died before anything could happen between us, Wilson Christopher was a demon-worshiping scumbag, and I had to leave Groo behind in Pylea a few months back! Maybe all this is a sign that what I've been looking for ever since high school, it was waiting right here for me all along..."

God help me - but I wanted to drag Cordy by the arm to Wesley's car and take her back to LA, right then and there. Take her away from this damned town and these crazy thoughts she had started thinking! Besides - there was no way anything could happen between Cordelia and Xander now: even if he survived, I knew that Harris would be unable to look at Cordy the same way ever again.

Giles is proof of that; torture affects human beings at a gut level, and no matter what their brains might tell them about who was or wasn't responsible, their viscera would always insist otherwise.

"Cordy! Angel! Come on, we've found them!" Willow said to us hurriedly as she, Giles, Wesley, Fred and Gunn suddenly rushed out of the house to the cars parked on the street.

"Where are they?" Cordelia shouted, running so fast she'd already caught up to the others.

"Initially I couldn't believe it, but I triple-checked to be sure; and there was no doubt about it. Xander and the Cordelia vampire, they're at Angel's old mansion on Crawford Street!" Willow called out, as the car doors slammed shut and we were all on our way.

**|0|0|**

**·· Vamp Cordelia POV ··**

"Rise and shine, Xander!" I shouted, as I threw a bucket of ice-cold water on top of him. The next moment, three things happened.

_One_, Xander woke up, spluttering and gasping. _Two_, he found himself dangling a few feet off the floor and trapped in the manacles Angel had left behind in this place. _Three_, he looked at me and saw my vampire face.

"No..." the dork whispered in horror. "Oh, God, no – Cordy, who did this to you?" he suddenly shouted.

Well, what do you know? I guess some things really are universal; that was the exact same thing my Xander had first asked, when I got my claws on him. So I gave this version the exact same answer I'd given the other one. "Angelus."

Harris roared in fury, and it was music to my ears. "I'm gonna kill him for this, whether Willow does that damn curse again or not!"

"_Really?_" I arched my brow. "Now, how exactly are you going to do that? Even if you weren't my prisoner, I mean. A nothing human like you taking on the Scourge of Europe? He'd kill you without a second thought, dummy!"

"Not if I kill him first. And just so you know - Overbite's reputation isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not if a 'nothing human' like me could make him turn tail and run away in the hospital way back when," Xander replied coldly.

Well, well, well. I hadn't known about that; maybe it was something unique to this universe. I said, "Still. As a human, the odds are you don't stand a chance against him. As a vampire, though...well, that's different."

He closed his eyes briefly, and as expected the stench of his fear suddenly filled the room. Ah, this was more like it!

"I know I can't stop you from turning me against my will, Cordy. But you should know that as soon as I wake up as the newest member of the undead club, I'll try to kill you. In fact, I'll try so damn hard you'll be forced to stake me to stop me. So you may as well save yourself all the hassle, and just kill me now."

Interesting. My Xander hadn't reacted like this! Still, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. This one is nearly two years older, and a lot can change in that amount of time. Especially on a Hellmouth, with its bi-annual apocalypses. "Aren't you gonna ask why I want to make you my newest childe, Xander?"

"I figured if you wanted me to know, you'd tell me. Soulless things like you do tend to do that, in my experience."

Okay, now he was starting to piss me off. I slapped him, my claws digging into his cheek hard enough to draw blood; but Xander never made a sound. _Good_; it would make breaking him all the more pleasurable.

"Just outta interest, ya mind telling me who it was that gave Dead Boy his moment of perfect happiness? 'Cause for some reason, I'm kinda doubting it was you," the dweeb grunted. "I never got the 'couple' vibe off Cordelia when I visited that hotel three months ago, anyway."

What the hell – I decided to tell him the truth. How I was actually from another world, like the Willow vampire two and a half years ago. I explained what had had happened with Angelus in my world, how after he had turned me I had sired Xander's counterpart in my universe. I finished up by saying, "You were a great vampire...you almost had Faith dead to rights. And for a vampire who was less than two months old...that is pretty damn good!"

"You're serious," Xander said in astonishment, and I could tell that he believed me.

"Yep, I am. I figured the Star Trek nerd in you would understand it," I said with a big smile.

"Wait a minute. Who'd be stupid enough to do that spell again, though? I mean Anya's gone, and I'm sure Willow wouldn't have done it..."

"What does it matter? I'm here now, and that's the important thing," I told him, my eyes gleaming. "Now before we get down to business, I'd just like to ask; are you sure you don't want to let me turn you willingly? Come on...trust me, I'd be a great sire!"

He spat in my face, and I instantly lost it. I went over to a nearby table and grabbed the whip Angelus or whoever had left behind here way back when, and which I'd found after chaining Xander up. Along with a knife, and a chainsaw.

"Do you want to know how much that rebar hurt?" I snarled, emphasizing each word with the snap of the whip against Xander's naked back. "Well, here's a small demonstration..."

Xander's scream was ripped from his body at the first hit; I smiled, as I knew that the pain must have been almost unbearable for him. I also knew just where to strike to ensure the agony flowed through every nerve ending in his body, and see to it that his back felt like it was on fire. His body tried to arch away as the next lash of the whip fell - but being chained, there was no way to escape the pain. All he could do was scream, and wait for the next bite of the whip.

I shook my head in disgust, as I finally let her whip drop to the floor. I then flashed Xander an evil look, as I walked towards him with my next toy; the knife. "Just a heads-up, Xander honey, this might sting a little..."

I drew the point of the knife up Xander's right thigh towards his groin, and then down to the left thigh. I went deep enough to let out blood, but not deep enough to nick an artery like I really wanted to. A thin line of blood trailed behind in the knife's wake, and the blood ran in rivulets down Xander's legs, pooling at his feet.

The smell of warm, fresh, fear-laced blood was intoxicating. I found myself sniffing the air again appreciatively. "I got out most of the anger about the fluke with Willow when I tortured my Xander, you should know."

"But still, baby...torturing someone properly is a lost art, that's one thing Angelus did teach me. Plus, I have to break you...I can't have you going rogue on me like I did on old Soul Boy." I grabbed his hair, pulling his head back so that my lips were right in his ear. "Plus, I know the _real _you. Not the masked fool you always showed Buffy and Willow."

"Like I said before, you might as well kill me now..."

I laughed at him, while running a hand up his bare chest. "Oh hush, you don't know what freedom is until you just let it all go. Just wait till you see what the hyena still in you can do with no limits!"

I then dropped the knife, as there was something else I wanted to try now...

But it seemed someone Up There was determined to spoil all my fun, because a room-temperature hand grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me around, just before a huge fist crashed into my face and I saw stars before stumbling backward.

"Angel," I hissed at him, getting myself back under control.

"I made you, or at least my counterpart in your world did. You feel like a childe of my line, anyway, so it's my duty to end you," the damned pansy growled at me, before the fight got started.

As all the punches and kicks started to be thrown around, I vaguely noticed the other white hats gathering around Xander to release him from the manacles. Crap. There went my plans to recreate my most loyal minion!

"Hey, you undead bitch!" I heard my own voice scream, and I ducked the stake that was coming for my heart before smashing the human me aside with a karate chop to the neck.

"Cordy, no-!" Soul Boy ranted, before vamping out and coming at me with everything he had. He got lucky with a reverse spinning side kick, and hit me right on the jaw.

I was outnumbered and hurting, so I decided to make a break for it after getting close enough to kick Angel in the balls and put him down for the count...

"_Immobilice!_"

Damn! I couldn't move! It was the Willow of this world, I just knew it! That damned boyfriend-stealing little hussy, I should have killed her first and foremost!

The next moment, I saw the human me with the stake in her hand. From the expression on her face, I knew that the other Cordelia wasn't in the mood to chat or trade one-liners, not anymore.

Well, what the hell. May as well make this memorable, before my final curtain call.

"Just remember: I was there first. In his bed earlier on tonight, and here spilling his blood. No matter what happens between you and your Xander in the future, he'll never forget what happened this evening. I've made sure of that."

The stake flashed down; and for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, oblivion swallowed me whole.

**|0|0|**

**××Angel POV××**

I looked up just in time to see Cordelia stake her 'evil twin' as she'd call her earlier on tonight. I was glad the deed was done, even if I regretted not being the one to erase the soulless vampire from existence.

"We need to get Xander to a hospital," Giles said, examining the guy's injuries. Which weren't minor ones; I could tell.

"No, it's okay; I'll take care of this... _Eximo!_" Willow shouted, waving her right arm.

There was a flash of light, and instantly the smell of blood around his groin was gone. It was amazing; Willow had to have a hell of a lot of power to pull off a healing spell of that magnitude so effortlessly! On closer inspection, though, I saw she had healed some of Xander's wounds, but not all of them.

The redhead was about to repeat the trick with the whipping scars on Xander's back, which were still bleeding profusely, but I guess she'd overreached herself – because the very next moment, Willow collapsed unconscious.

"Willow!" more than one person cried out, before Wesley caught her as the redhead began to collapse to the ground.

"I've got her," Wes grunted, as Gunn came over to help him with the unconscious witch.

"Gosh, are y'all okay?" Fred asked Xander fearfully as she helped Giles to support him.

"Not really, but I think I'll survive," Harris grunted.

"Hi. I'm Fred," she introduced herself in that special, semi-crazy way I remembered so well from Pylea. "Pleasure to meet you!"

"Pleasure's all mine, Fred," Xander told her as he, she, Giles, Gunn, Wesley and Willow all started to vacate the premises.

I noticed Cordelia still standing there, though – staring at the dust on the floor that had been her counterpart from another world. "Cordy? Are you okay?"

She dropped the stake onto the ground, and collapsed sobbing into my chest. And as I held her in my arms, for the first time - I wondered if I had done the right thing, going to see Lorne at his club less than twelve hours ago.

**|0|0|**

Not long afterwards at Sunnydale General Hospital, I had to force myself not to do something stupid when Cordelia ordered us all to get out of the hospital room Xander had been set up in. She wanted a private conversation with the guy to "clear the air between them". Personally, I didn't see what she had to say that couldn't be said in front of everyone else...

That's why I was lurking around close enough to the hospital room door to hear Cordelia say, "That undead bitch was in a brand new world where she could have gone anywhere, and done anything after escaping from the hotel, but - but instead, she came here and headed straight for you, Xander. Maybe there's something to that..."

"Ow!" I yelped, as Willow dragged me away by the ear. "Willow, let go!"

"Mister, you are _so_ lucky that I know Buffy wouldn't want me to hurt you right now, otherwise I'd be making you feel like you'd just been dunked in holy water," Willow said to me threateningly. "Does the concept of privacy mean _nothing_ to you?"

"It's Cordelia. I worry," I told her defensively.

"Keep doing that sort of thing, and soon enough you'll lose her completely," Willow said warningly, which sent up a chill up my spine. It hadn't been that long since our conversation at Buffy's house, when Cordelia had been pissed enough to ask if I even cared whether Xander lived or died.

"I grew up with her, Angel; and despite whatever you may think, deep down I know Cordy a lot better than you do," Willow went on. "You should know by now how she hates it when people try to force her into doing something that she doesn't want to do, whether it's '_for her own good_' or whatever. You think I didn't see the expression on your face when Cordelia said she wanted to talk to Xander in private? You think I don't know how you're going to try to discourage her – and you may think you'll do it subtly, but I'll bet you anything it won't be subtle enough – from contacting Xander again after you all go back to Los Angeles?"

"If Cordelia tries to start something up again with Xander, it won't end well. I know it, you know it, and deep down even they know it," I told her in no uncertain terms. "I'm not going to just sit around and let Xander hurt her-"

"Just like you couldn't sit around while thinking that Buffy was in a hell dimension, and so you did the same sort of spell that Anya and I did two and a half years ago?" Willow demanded, as we finally arrived in the almost-empty cafeteria.

"That spell wasn't the same one you did-"

"Besides, I've been doing some thinking," Willow cut me off. "What you did in Los Angeles last night – look, don't tell anyone, but the truth is I've been doing some preparatory work of my own to bring Buffy back to life."

"You _what_?" I yelped, unable to believe my ears.

"Yeah. I haven't gotten very far, on account of there's some stuff I haven't been able to find anywhere – like an Urn of Osiris, or this spell component called 'vino de madre'. I haven't told Xander yet either, because the odds are he'll go ballistic if I do," Willow admitted sheepishly.

"But something your friend Gunn said earlier on, it got me to thinking; I shouldn't just assume that Buffy's soul is stuck in some dark hell-world like you did - and like I was doing, too. Before I try to bring her back, I should damn well make sure that Buffy's not in Heaven with her mom or something! Anyway, there's a spell I can use to check; so you wanna come with me, see what the results are?"

For some reason, I wanted to say no. I wanted...I wanted...

Oh. That was the problem right there, wasn't it? I wanted to be able to rescue Buffy, to bring her back! To save her, the way I hadn't been able to save her three months ago. I didn't want to find out that she was in Heaven, and didn't need saving of any kind!

But I'd made enough mistakes recently, as I'm sure Cordelia would have been the first to point out. I was supposed to be a champion for the Powers, so it was time – maybe long past time – I started acting like one. That's why I followed Willow back to 1630 Revello Drive, and bore witness as she did the ritual to determine the whereabouts of my beloved's soul.

There was an explosion of orange light, which immediately made my demon cringe and silently howl in pain. I didn't care, though; I was too busy gawking at Buffy. Or her essence, anyway; everything that she had ever been, it was surrounded by that bright orange glow. And the light, I could sense how it was made up of pure joy - and warmth - and love.

Willow immediately terminated the spell, and we just sort of stared at each other for a while. It was hard for me to acknowledge that Buffy was indeed in Heaven, and that I'd made a terrible, near-lethal mistake doing what I did last night. But there was no point trying to deny what I'd seen with my own eyes - so I went back to the hospital, knocked on the door and apologized whole-heartedly to Cordelia for what I'd done.

But if I was shocked to learn that Cordelia had graciously and fully accepted my apology, then I was stunned to hear that she had convinced Xander to move to Los Angeles to try to make a new start in life...

**|0|0|**

**Just outside the Harris residence  
**

**Los Angeles, California – November 15, 2001**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

My God, but what a difference three months can make!

It all started when Xander transferred to LA with his construction company for a fresh start...and he ended up the legal guardian of Dawn, who eventually moved in with him after the Buffybot was destroyed in some weird battle with a bunch of demon bikers or something.

Apparently Faith was released from jail by the Council, who used its influence to get her sentence commuted to time served; and afterwards she joined Giles and the rest of the gang in Sunnyhell. Not that she got along with Willow, of course, but Faith did kick those bikers outta town so maybe she's reformed now. Okay, so she _probably_ is, if the exact same thing happened to her in at least two different realities; but I'm damned if I'm going to be socializing with her anytime soon.

That day when Faith slugged me and knocked me out cold with a smile on her face after I'd started working for Angel is not something I can easily forget, after all.

Speaking of my undead boss, guess who showed up in his un-life just yesterday! Darla. A nine-month-pregnant Darla, at that. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned that not only had Angel slept with her back in February and lied to me about it, he got her knocked up as well! Even though that's supposed to be impossible, according to Wes...

It was almost as much of a surprise when during our weekly phone calls, Willow told me that she had finally de-ratted Amy Madison. God only knows how that girl is going to cope after living as a rodent for the past three years, but I advised Willow to get her into therapy ASAP if she doesn't want Amy to have a psychotic breakdown or whatever.

Still, that's not my problem. My priorities are Xander and Dawn, ever since I started dating him again.

Dawnie's thrilled for us, of course; ever since she left Sunnydale, she's been totally focusing on Xander as the stable male-slash-big brother figure in her life. Oh, granted Spike comes to visit her every so often, and Xander hates having him in the house; but he knows that Dawn would just sneak out to meet with Captain Peroxide in secret if he doesn't invite the vampire in, so the doofus tolerates Billy Idol's presence as best he can.

And even though it's obvious the dork still misses Anya, Dawn was able to convince him that she wouldn't want Xander to always mourn her loss and grow old alone; so I was able to convince him to give 'us' another chance. It's been kind of rocky so far, but we're making progress – and who knows what the future will bring?

That's part of the reason why we were able to persuade Willow and Tara to let Dawn go, to convince them to let her grow up somewhere other than the damn Hellmouth. Not that LA is the safest place in the world either, of course, but Angel can protect Dawn even better than Willow and Tara can – and I'm pretty sure it helps him deal, by having such a big reminder of Buffy around.

Anyway, I entered the apartment with the key Xander gave me and called out, "Dawn? Xander?"

"I'm in the kitchen! And Dawn's getting help with her homework from Wesley at his apartment," I heard Xander yell back.

I made my way to the meal room, and straightaway I gagged at Xander's smell. After working all day in the hot sun for his construction company, the doofus positively reeked.

"Cordy? Did you just have a vision?" Xander asked me, looking concerned after seeing me recoil away from him.

"Damn right I had a vision. Of you getting in the damn shower!" I then dragged him away towards the bathroom. "Not to mention, me scrubbing your back..."

**00000**

**A While Later**

**= = A Higher Plane = =**

The Bright Lady decided she'd seen enough, averting her gaze from those two after they had started to 'shower' together. Mission accomplished in that particular universe. The Cordelia vampire has finally been erased from existence...

Seeing a 'spark' pass between the two out of the corner of her eye, she wondered what it had been. That was something higher beings could do after all; we can 'see' things that people in the mortal realm can't. **_I'm not sure, but I think-_**

"_Oh my God... He just knocked...her up!_"

There was no doubt in the bright woman's mind after that; it was definitely time for her to turn attention to those people in other universes who still needed her help. Witnessing that sort of thing was just too strange, and there was nothing further in that particular universe that held her interest any longer.

**00000**

**THE END**


End file.
